The Exploration of Mars

What is the fate of a Manned missions to Mars? There is a chance that in the next 2 decades a human colony will be established on the Mars.

According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, The state of the exploration of Mars

The exploration of Mars has been an important part of the space exploration programs of theSoviet Union (later Russia), the United States, Europe, and Japan. Dozens of robotic spacecraft, including orbiters, landers, and rovers, have been launched toward Mars since the 1960s……..

Launch windows

In order to understand the history of the robotic exploration of Mars it is important to note that minimum-energy launch windows occur at intervals of 2.135 years, i.e. 780 days (the planet's synodic period) with respect to Earth. This is a consequence of the Hohmann transfer orbit for minimum-energy interplanetary transfer. Launch windows were/will be in:

· November to December 1996

· December 1998 to January 1999

· April 2001

· June to July 2003

· August 2005

· October 2007

· December 2009

· February 2012

Like the outbound launch windows, minimum energy inbound (Mars to Earth) launch windows also occur at intervals of 780 (Earth) days.

In addition to these minimum-energy trajectories, which occur when the planets are aligned so that the Earth to Mars transfer trajectory goes halfway around the sun, an alternate trajectory which has been proposed goes first inward toward Venus orbit, and then outward, resulting in a longer trajectory which goes about 360 degrees around the sun ("opposition-class trajectory"). Although this transfer orbit takes longer, and also requires more energy, it is sometimes proposed as a mission trajectory for human missions.[citation needed]

…….

Surface missions

The first image transmitted by the Viking 1 Lander from the surface of Mars, showing the craft's footpad.

The Soviet Union intended to beat the USA by sending landers first in the Mars probe program M-69 in 1969, but both probes of the new heavy 5-ton design, Mars 1969A and Mars 1969B, failed at launch.

The first probes to impact and land on Mars were the Soviet Union's Mars 2 and Mars 3, as part of the Mars probe program M-71 in 1971. The Mars 2 and 3 probes each carried a lander, both of which failed upon landing. Mars 3 was the first successful martian lander and was able to send data and image from the surface of Mars for the first time during 20 seconds of operation.

Mars 6 and Mars 7 landers on the next Soviet Mars probe program M-73 failed their missions: the first impacted on the surface while the second missed the planet.

The first successful American landers were the Viking 1 & 2.

Mars Curse

The high failure rate of missions launched from Earth attempting to explore Mars has become informally known as the Mars Curse. Some[who?] suggest, in jest, that there is some supernatural force trying to prevent or punish the exploration of Mars. The Galactic Ghoul is a fictional space monster that consumes Mars probes, a term coined in 1997 by Time Magazine journalist Donald Neff.[3][4][5]

Of 38 launches from Earth in an attempt to reach the planet, only 19 succeeded, a success rate of 50%. Twelve of the missions included attempts to land on the surface, but only seven transmitted data after landing.

The U.S. NASA Mars exploration program has had a somewhat better record of success in Mars exploration, achieving success in 13 out of 18 missions launched (a 72% success rate), and succeeding in six out of seven (an 86% success rate) of the launches of Mars landers.

Failed and cancelled missions to the planet Mars

Manned missions

Many people have long advocated a manned mission to Mars as the next logical step for a manned space program after lunar exploration. Aside from the prestige such a mission would bring, advocates argue that humans would easily be able to outperform robotic explorers, justifying the expenses. Critics contend, however, that robots can perform better than humans at a fraction of the expense.

See the full wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploration_of_Mars